Elder Porter Richards life as an LDS missionary.
He will be serving for 2 years in the
Quezon City North Mission in the Philippines speaking Tagalog.

Porter flag

Monday, September 5, 2016

Out of the MTC and into the Field

This week has been one of the coolest weeks and one of the hardest weeks I have ever had in my LIFE.

It started out with on Wednesday we were taken to a chapel to meet our companion and see what area we were going to be serving in. Holy cow was I scared out of my britches. I got assigned to Elder Miller, he is a great guy who only has 3 months left on his mission. So I am his last transfer. That in a sense motivated me because I am not going to send him home on a bad note. We are assigned to the Hagonoy Branch, which is right near the coast. It took us 5 hours to return to our house after we got assigned because of the traffic... and we had to take a Jeepney. Let me say, Taking Jeepney with 3 things of luggage is the biggest hassle. Jeepneys are already super squished but put in 3 suitcases and you literally have no room.

One thing that is kind of funny is there are 15 trainers and 2 of them are Americans, I was the only American to get paired with another American. We got to apartment at 8:30 at night and still hadn't eaten dinner. It was a long day. Our apartment is small. But it is only my companion and I staying in there so it's not terrible. We have no dishwasher, no laundry machines, no microwave, and really no appliances in general. It definitely takes some getting used to like to do you laundry by hand and not be able to cook food.

Sadly we weren't able to do any work that Wednesday night but it was alright because I was dead tired from all that travel. The next day we went out and it was just crazy. Like I have said before, these houses aren't even houses. And the hardest part is here in Hagony when ever it rains, it Floods... and it rains everyday. So most houses we go to to teach, they are flooded. This just makes it interesting to find a place to teach because the people don't want us to come into their house so we don't ruin our clothes or anything. That just shows their love and respect for us.

On your first day out you have to ask someone to baptism. They just want to throw you in the fire. I was a little nervous. We met a girl (Kat) on the street who was asking us about the church so we asked to see if we could teach her. Kat accepted our invitation and we went in and taught about the Restoration. At the end my companion hits me, and in the broken Tagalog I had, I asked Kat if she would like to be baptized. She paused and said she maybe would. She wants us to first come back and teach her more before she makes the final decision. It was nerve racking to ask, but I just had to have faith in the Lord that he would help me out, and He did. Right now there are currently 5 people scheduled to be baptized in my area, it's incredible. Everyday my testimony grows more and more. I know the Spirit guides this work.

On Sunday I had to give a talk during sacrament. I was really nervous but as I was sitting on the stand, I realized how much I love these people. So when I got up, I first apologized for the English, but I just told them how excited I was to be able to serving with them and how I was looking forward to getting to know each of them. I concluded with a simple testimony and then saying how much I already love them. These people have the biggest smiles and the sweetest spirit. I can feel Gods love for these people.

My ward is awesome and are super nice and understanding with me. I know I am going to continue to struggle with the language, but with the faith I have, Heavenly Father will help me through this challenge.

Love you all!

BTW.. I tried chicken feet for the first time... And all I can say is the thought of eating it is a lot worse than the actual taste. I still have not tried balut.